Are you searching how to pick a daycare? It can be tough to find one that has what you’re looking for, and the ones with the best reviews might not have openings. But don’t worry! I’ve compiled a list of questions to ask yourself when picking a daycare.
When choosing how to pick a daycare, you need to see if it’s suitable for your child. The following checklist can help determine whether or not they have everything needed, to ensure both parent and infant safety.
It’s important when looking into care centers that all your criteria are checked off.
You don’t want any surprises down the line! Check out my top tips on how to pick a daycare for your child.
What to look for When Choosing a Daycare
1. How to Pick a Daycare? Pay Attention to Licensing & Accreditation
The need for licensing is standard when it comes to daycare regulation. When searching how to pick a daycare, remember that just because a center has a license, that doesn’t mean that it’s quality. A license only grants permission to run your business.
US and Canada have different licensing and accreditation requirements to open up a daycare. As a parent, it’s important to make sure that you are aware of these requirements. A simple google search can help you figure this out, but I’ve added some information below for you to take a look at.
Canada
In Canada, child care is heavily regulated. Standards and procedures vary by province, and sometimes by city. Going beyond a general outline of the law calls for expert legal advice specific to your town. Federal guidelines for a child care business fall into two categories
Employment Regulations
Regardless of the nature of your business, as an employer, you are expected to follow all of Canada’s laws. This is in regards to pay, hours worked, workplace health and safety, human rights, and other employment regulations. All employers have to follow these rules, and child care facilities with employees are no exception.
Make sure to search the internet for employment regulations for your province. This will help to ensure that the daycare you choose is the right fit for your family.
Facility Licences
These rules are specific to daycare providers and are handled differently by each province. You must register as either an in-home or facility-based caregiver. In-home daycare doesn’t have to be licensed. However, it is limited in the number of children who can be cared for and may be subject to inspection.
Facility-based centers may be licensed or unlicensed. Licensing requirements vary, but most provinces require you and your staff to attend child care training and get first aid certified. You may also need a special license for off-site activities, such as driving with the children.
United States
State-level licensing is a minimum standard for care regulation. Similar to Canada, when someone has permission to run the business, it doesn’t mean that it will be of a high standard. In addition to licensing, high-quality care centers will often see national accreditation from these organizations:
- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
- National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education Programs (NAC)
- National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA)
2. Educated & Highly Trained Classroom Staff
It’s important that the classroom staff has experience and knowledge to go above and beyond in caring for students. Furthermore, they need education degrees/certifications. A degree or certification from an accredited university or college is expected in these positions.
It’s also worth checking whether there are ongoing training opportunities available, where employees can learn more about how our organization operates. This will help keep everything running smoothly.
3. How to Pick a Daycare? Look Out For The Director’s Education and Experience
A high-quality daycare center will have an educated and experienced director.
The facility director should have a degree in early childhood education and/or academic administration. They must also demonstrate an understanding of the company’s mission, values, and policies. This helps to ensure that they are able to effectively lead employees toward success with these goals
A well-qualified director will typically showcase experience working with young children (or other qualifications). They’ll also show that they have advanced academic knowledge about early childhood programs like daycare centers.
4. Health and Safety
It’s important that you know the health and safety regulations of the daycare, before enrolling your child. You can ask about health concerns or safety precautions at any time during orientation. this will help you to make a more informed decision on if this center is good for your child.
A parent’s worst nightmare is to find out that their child has been hurt at daycare. You need peace of mind knowing the staff there are knowledgeable about safety policies.
Keeping children safe and healthy, should always be a top priority for any child care provider. Whether your kids are in center-based or home-based settings, you must ensure their safety both inside the property as well as outside its boundaries.
5. How to Pick a Daycare? Pay Attention to Racial & Cultural Diversity
As a mother, it’s important for me to see my child being represented in their family childcare setting. Representation matters, and it’s important for children of different races and cultures to see others like themselves.
A lack of representation can have a deep impact on how we feel about ourselves as individuals. This affects self-esteem, which then leads back into our confidence levels as children.
Inclusive environments foster a sense of belonging, understanding, and support for children. A high-quality facility will include racial diversity in reading materials, lessons, or staff to show that they care about including all learners with different backgrounds.
6. Age-appropriate Activities
Your child’s development at their daycare center is important. If you have the time, review your child’s classroom curriculum. This will help to ensure that lessons and planned activities are age-appropriate. The curriculum should match a child’s developmental level, in order to provide a meaningful learning experience that is beneficial.
The best centers should always consider the child’s interests. If they like playing outside in nature or running around at home then find an environment where there’s lots of space outdoors too.
7. Story Time is a Must
The education of young children is so important in the early years. Reading to children fosters the development of a love for reading. Circle time encourages children to participate with their classmates and teachers.
Reading opens doors for developing useful skills. This is essential when it comes down to deciding what your child wants out of life; such as reading comprehension and vocabulary growth! Stories are a powerful way to teach children about the world, and reading is vital for their development.
8. How to Pick a Daycare? Be Up-T0-Date With The Safe Sign-in & Safety Policies
A family’s right to privacy and the safety of their children is important. When you visit any facility, ask about how they sign in or out of a room with your kids!
For the best experience, facilities should make sure that each family’s privacy and child security remain intact. The organization has clear policies in place for signing children into and out of its property. They will also have an active sign-in book or access code.
Make sure your child’s daycare has a clear policy on safety and what to do in case of an emergency. A parent should always question the care staff at their children’s facility. This includes how teaches would handle emergencies like fires or medical situations.
Red Flags to Remember When Searching How to Picking Out a Daycare
1. High Child: Teacher Ratio
In order for teachers to provide high-quality care when the ratio is too high, they may end up feeling overwhelmed.
If there are too many children in one classroom or school setting, this might become a problem. It can be difficult for adults who want to spend more time individually interacting with each student because they will need two sets of hands at all times instead.
When figuring out how to pick a daycare, always keep in mind the number of children per teacher. Trust me, it’ll make a huge difference.
2. No Child-Proofing & Messy/Dirty Center
When figuring out how to pick a daycare, a messy/dirty daycare that is not child-proof is a definite red flag. A lack of cleanliness and safety can be an indication for low-quality care, which will ultimately affect the quality of education they receive from teachers as well!
Check for dirty surfaces or sockets near food preparation areas when examining what type of sanitary conditions exist at your local preschools.
Try to look for daycare centers that have a variety of stimulating activities. It may be difficult to evaluate how bored or happy your toddlers are during their visit, you should notice if they seem eager enough about what’s going on at the center and actively engaged.
If you notice your child isn’t excited to go to daycare, take a look deeper into why they aren’t.
3. Director Communication is Inadequate
The center’s director should be responsive and easy to reach. If voice messages and emails go unreturned for a length of time, parents may consider the negative impacts of such communication on future parent/center relationships. If the director cannot handle questions and concerns in a timely manner, then that would definitely be a cause for concern.
4. The Staff Turnover is High
A higher-than-usual number of workers quitting could indicate long hours, low paychecks, and poor benefits in addition to other possible flaws with their work environment; such as not feeling valued by management for who they were – even if this person had been there since day one! Make sure to ask the director questions about the staff such as when they were hired and how long they’ve been with the center.
5. Policies are not clear
Daycare policies should be clear and readily available either on the website or at the center. A lack of policy information brings overall center function into question with regards to security and safety.
How to Pick a Daycare Center: 17 Questions to Ask Checklist
- what is your philosophy on childcare?
- Are you licensed?
- What degrees and certifications do the staff and the director have.
- how long has the current staff been there?
- Do you have a nurse on-site for medical care? Or are all your staff trained in first aid?
- Do you experience high employee turnover?
- how many children attend the daycare?
- what. is your child-to-teacher ratio?
- what do you serve for meals and snacks? Or do parents need to provide food?
- what is the potty training procedure?
- how often do you sanitize the toys and materials used by the children?
- How do you handle discipline problems?
- What happens if we’re late to pick up our child?
- Do you transport children in a vehicle? Where do you go? Inspect the vehicle in which children will be transported to see if it meets safety standards.
- What are the tuition and fees? Is there a waitlist?
- If you have more than one child attending, do you get a discount?
- How do you keep parents up-to-date on their kid’s daily activities?
- What are the security measures you take for your daycare center?
I hope this article has helped you understand how to pick a daycare. Choosing the right daycare is so important for the health and well-being of your child. It can be both a scary and exciting thing. Make sure you take the time out to ask questions and be well-informed.
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